Jan. 7, 2010

Final Stats

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Courtney Hawkins knew what it took to get to that point. From a 26-point loss at the Curb Event Center in the first meeting between Belmont and the USC Upstate women's basketball team on Jan. 19, 2008 to standing at the free throw line with 30 seconds left down by one point on a snowy Thursday in Nashville.

The senior, who has scored 1,111 points in her four years at Upstate, added four of the biggest in her career to wrap up Upstate's first win in school history over Belmont, canning two with 30 seconds left to give Upstate the lead and two more with five seconds left to ice the 57-54 Atlantic Sun Conference triumph. It was Upstate's second straight win over an A-Sun program it had never beaten after an 85-78 win over ETSU on Monday.

"It's very special," Hawkins (Greer, S.C./Greer) said. "This is a good team win. Everybody contributed from the bench to the five players on the floor. It's a big win because we've never beaten them before. I think a lot of people still underestimate us, still underestimate what we have. When we play together, it's hard to stop."

Maybe nothing underscores the development of USC Upstate (8-6 overall, 2-3 A-Sun) more than Hawkins' role in those two games almost two years apart. In 2008, she was the team's top scorer, en route to an A-Sun scoring title, and the one-woman wrecking crew posted 18 points, six assists and four steals in 39 minutes. On Tuesday, Hawkins played six few minutes, scoring six points and posting four assists, but at the end of the game, it was still No. 11 that iced it away for Upstate.

"Two years ago, it was a totally different team," Hawkins said. "I'm glad now we have the base we have."

Upstate head coach Tammy George added, "It's very exciting. We talked to the team about being a part of a lot of firsts and they are excited about it. They're doing a great job. Every one of them have been team wins. The bench is into it. Individuals are stepping up and learning their roles. We're on a high right now so hopefully we can keep this bus moving."

For much of the game, the Spartans had a comfortable lead over the Bruins (7-6 overall, 2-3 A-Sun), with a busting, driving layup by sophomore Lesley Daniel (Collinwood, Tenn./Collinwood), two of her career-high 18 points, giving Upstate a 42-29 lead with 14:00 left. However, Belmont scored the next 12 straight points, cutting the lead to one point after a layup by Kristin Nash with 9:03 left and from there, the Spartans maintained a precarious lead for the next three minutes until a layup from Belmont's senior leader, Amber Rockwell, tied the game at 47 with 6:15 left. A free throw from Belmont's Alyssa Visbeen, who finished with a career -high 14 points, gave Belmont the lead with 5:36 left, but a solid drive from Hawkins put Upstate in the lead with 5:24 left.

The teams alternated buckets from there, with a Rockwell layup giving Belmont the lead with 4:06 left before two free throws from Daniel put Upstate back in control. Another layup by Rockwell was followed by a big jumper from junior Chelsea McMillan (East Gadsden, Fla./Santa Fe C.C.) from the right side with 1:47 left, giving the Spartans a 53-52 lead. Both teams struggled through a possession each before a foul by Hawkins put Rockwell on the line with 48 seconds left. Rockwell knocked both shots down, giving Belmont the 54-53 lead.

From there, though, Upstate's senior leader Hawkins took over, drawing a foul on Nelson and canning both free throws with 30 seconds left. After an out of control shot by Rockwell with eight seconds left, Hawkins grabbed the rebound and was fouled. The 75 percent career free throw shooter hit two more. Off the inbounds, Upstate forced five seconds off the clock, leaving 1.5 on the clock when Belmont called a timeout. With time to take one shot, a Belmont 3-pointer from 24 feet bounced off the rim.

"Courtney did a great job stepping up for us," Upstate head coach Tammy George said. "She hadn't been shooting well from the line the last couple games, but those were four big ones she knocked down for us. It was good for her in a pressure situation to step to the line and do that."

Daniel scored 14 points in the first half to help the Spartans take a 10-point lead by halftime. The Spartans used a 17-6 run to take a 21-10 lead after a free throw from junior Sharniece Wadelington (Greenville, S.C./UNC Greensboro) with 8:06 left in the half. Daniel led the run with 10 points, posting two threes during that time.

Upstate kept the pressure on, with a 3-pointer from sophomore Kendra Wallace (Hurricane, W.Va./Nitro) falling through with 5:56 left giving Upstate 29-16 lead. The Bruins scored the next seven points, but another 3-pointer from Daniel, the fifth of the half by Upstate, sent Upstate to the locker room with a 34-24 lead.

"Their defense didn't come out enough because they didn't respect our shooting," Daniel, playing just an hour from home in Tennessee, said. "They wanted to double-in on Chelsea. It's comforting to know that my family was here. It feels good to be in Tennessee and to have a good game."

Daniel finished with 18 points and added four rebounds, two steals and an assist. McMillan posted nine points, 10 rebounds, two blocks and two steals and Wadelington notched 10 points, two assists and two steals.

"Those three girls, they gave us a spark," Hawkins said. "Sharniece, offensively and defensively, Chelsea inside and Lesley hitting threes -- it was a lovely team win."

Wallace notched eight points and four rebounds. Freshman Lauren McRoberts (Carmel, Ind./Carmel) posted two points and nine rebounds and senior Koko Richardson (Mary Esther, Fla./Santa Fe C.C.) added four points and five rebounds.

Visbeen led the Bruins in scoring, adding six rebounds and a block and Rockwell scored 13 points, all in the second half. Haley Nelson posted nine points and seven rebounds and Shaunda Strayhorn posted four assists.

The Spartans wrap up the Nashville swing by playing at Lipscomb on Saturday at 2 p.m.

Notes:
- The Spartans are 5-6 all-time on Jan. 7.

- Junior Chelsea McMillan has made a D-I era record 32 straight free throws.

- For the second straight game, Upstate was held to fewer than 10 steals, posting just seven against Belmont, who turned over the ball just 13 times.